My favorite Shakespeare play to read is King Lear. Shakespeare takes Lear from the heights of royalty to the depths of despair. Things get bad at the beginning, and time after time, just as you think Lear’s life can’t get any worse, it gets much worse.
The Nationals are going through that right now. Just when you think their season can’t get any worse, they play a game like tonight. They hit five home runs. They scored eleven runs. They led 11-7 going into the bottom of the eighth. Then Lear mocked them.
Garrett Mock gave up three hits in his 2/3 of the eighth inning. So Manny Acta called on his closer, Joel Hanrahan. He came in wild, like a tempest. He threw a wild pitch, walked two to load the bases, then just as it couldn’t get any worse, Raul Ibanez hits a grand slam. The Lears lose 13-11. The season just keeps getting worse.
Have to admit that Nationals games have become a guilty pleasure for me on Extra Innings. You just know something horrible is going to happen, no matter how well things start out.
Plus the games often feature lots of late runs, thanks to Washington’s incendiary bullpen. Last night Matt Vasgersian on the MLB Network commented on the sadness in Bob Carpenter’s voice as he called Ibanez’ final, fatal slam.
Yes, it was as tragic as baseball gets, with a reversal in fortune Sophocles might have admired.